Fleer Trading Cards plans to launch Ophidian 2350, its first CCG product, in June.  Two SKUs are planned for the initial launch:  Starter Decks at $9.99 and Booster Packs at $2.00.  The concept is described as 'Roman gladiators meet the far future.'  The game will feature game mechanics that abandon turns for 'the flow,' which determines which player plays next.  Momentum will shift from player to player 'like a wrestling match.' 

 

We asked Director of Marketing Andrew Lilien why Fleer was expanding in this direction.  He cited the need to diversify, and said that Fleer management felt that the design team had something special in the unique game mechanics.  Coupling those mechanics with an original concept avoided the high risks associated with CCGs based on licensed properties.

 

Fleer's other move into non-sports cards this year is with a major licensed property -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Two SKUs are planned.  The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trading Cards will be released this week in five-card packs at $1.99 each, sold in 36-count display boxes.   Teenage Mutant Ninja 3-D Trading Cards also come five cards per $1.99 pack, but each card punches and folds into a TMNT figure.  Lilien noted the steadily increasing ratings for the Fox Box TMNT animated series as a strong sales stimulus for Fleer's TMNT products.  Two more TMNT Trading Cards SKUs are planned -- one in the early fall, the other in Q4.